Baylor County, Texas · Seymour
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With 34% of homes built before 1960 and about 7 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Baylor County averages 7.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Baylor County spike on heavy-rain days, about 7.5 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Baylor County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.21 inches, and about 40 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
11% of occupied homes in Baylor County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 114 muggy nights a year, mold in Baylor County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 3,485 people live in Baylor County, 867 square miles in northern Texas, in roughly 2,190 homes. Seymour is the county seat. The county's median home was built in 1966.
67/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Baylor County ranks 5 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Baylor County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Baylor is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 7 nights a year at or below 20°F (38th of 232) and 43 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 10 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -5°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from January, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 17 and the last spring freeze around Mar 5.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. About 7.5 days a year bring an inch or more (120th of 232), most often in May, out of 29.2 inches of total precipitation. On September 22, 2018, 3.21 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.46 inches (through October 9, 2018).
About 40 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Baylor ranks 16th, with 74% of its homes built before 1980.
34% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 7% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
30% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Renters occupy 34% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Baylor County averages 114 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Baylor County homes break down as 55% utility gas, 31% electric, 10% propane and 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Baylor County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Baylor gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Baylor | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 34% | 20% | 37 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 74% | 46% | 16 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9% | 26% | 214 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.1% | 13% | 188 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 30% | 17% | 19 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 6.5% | 65 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 7/yr | 3/yr | 38 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.5/yr | 7.8/yr | 120 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 40/yr | 27/yr | 59 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 114/yr | 129/yr | 160 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Baylor County: freezing from January, heavy rain in May, October and November.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology